Giants' shutout streak ends in loss

SAN FRANCISCO _ The Giants' lengthy shutout streak was over after one pitch Friday night. The end of their winning streak wasn't far behind.

Cincinnati Reds shortstop Zack Cozart homered on the first pitch he saw from Matt Cain, who was roughed up in a 5-1 loss at AT&T Park. The home run snapped the Giants' 36-inning shutout streak, and the loss snapped a four-game winning streak that had vaulted the club into first place.

With their ace on the mound, reaching the franchise record of 38 consecutive scoreless innings seemed a formality. But Cozart jumped on Cain's 90 mph fastball, and the Reds scored two more in the first inning on a double from Jay Bruce.

Cain had allowed just seven first-inning runs in his first 15 starts. He lasted 6 2/3 innings, tying season highs with 11 hits and five earned runs allowed, including a sixth-inning homer by opposing pitcher Mike Leake.

Leake pitched his first career complete game, allowing just a solo homer by Pablo Sandoval in the ninth inning. It was Sandoval's first homer since returning from the disabled list June 9.

Leake put plenty of Giants on base, but they failed to capitalize over and over again. The Giants were 0 for 14 with runners on base and 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position.

The Giants pitching staff had thrown shutouts in each of the previous four games, becoming the first National League squad to accomplish the feat since the 1985 Montreal Expos.

It was the longest scoreless streak in the franchise's San Francisco-era and was two innings short of the all-time franchise record, set in 1903 and 1933.

n Right-hander Brad Penny has been trying to get back to AT&T Park for months. He nearly signed with the Giants in spring training but instead chose an offer to play in Japan. When that didn't work out, Penny called manager Bruce Bochy and quickly signed a minor league deal with the Giants.

Penny's contract was purchased from Triple-A Fresno on Friday when right-hander Shane Loux was placed on the disabled list with a neck strain.

"It's nice to be back," said Penny, who had a 2.59 ERA in six starts for the Giants late in the 2009 season. "I had a lot of fun when I was here last time. (Being a reliever) is definitely going to be different and something I have to learn as I go along, but I'm looking forward to it."

Bochy said Penny would be used in long relief or middle relief for now but didn't rule out further responsibilities.

"I'll tell him to be ready at any time," Bochy said. "We'll see how comfortable he is doing this role. I'll use him anywhere, which I do with these guys a lot."

Penny, 34, has been the starting pitcher for 315 of his 319 career appearances and hasn't come out of the bullpen since 2008. But he realizes his role will be limited on a staff that entered Friday night's game with a 36-inning scoreless streak.

"I'm not planning on starting here at all," he said. "We'll see what happens next year."

Penny had a 5.40 ERA in seven appearances for the Grizzlies and pitched two innings in each of his last two appearances. He said his shoulder, which was sore after he signed with the Giants on May18, feels fine.

Penny was 119-99 with a 4.23 ERA in 12 major league seasons before taking a deal in Japan, but he requested his release from the Softbank Hawks after just one start.

Penny said the language barrier was difficult, and he was upset when the Hawks asked him to throw 120 pitches per start after tendinitis limited him to just 12 spring-training innings.

"I was kind of trying to protect myself," he said. "I didn't know what to expect. I figured I could do anything for a couple of years, but that wasn't true. I wasn't having any fun playing baseball.

"If you're not having fun, you shouldn't be doing it."

Penny was having plenty of fun Friday. He spent the entirety of batting practice chatting up Tim Lincecum, with whom Penny became friends during his first stint in San Francisco.